


Anakin Sees the Trap

by ilyena_sylph, Merfilly



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ensemble Cast, Gen, Implied Relationships, Minor Character Death, Movie: Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Pregnancy, kriffing sith plans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2020-05-30 23:52:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19414084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilyena_sylph/pseuds/ilyena_sylph, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: What if... Anakin realized it was all a set-up? Or, things on theInvisible Handget kriffed.





	Anakin Sees the Trap

"I have something to say," Anakin told his Master after they dispatched the droids in the lift, the vision still bouncing around in the back of his mind.

"No time like the present, since we may not make it off this death trap alive," Obi-Wan said with a wry grin.

"You're right. It is a death trap. For you. Maybe for Dooku. But not me," Anakin told him. "The goal is to save the Chancellor, and that will happen. It's all a set up, so I can get him free."

Obi-Wan looked his sleep-starved former padawan over with a frown, but… there was something there.

"You're saying this is a trap that you are meant to spring and escape, but if that is the case — "

"The Chancellor set it up."

Anakin's words hit with the weight of a starfighter landing on him, and Obi-Wan could see that his dear friend, his brother, believed it.

"When, exactly, did you have this revelation?" he asked mildly.

Anakin half-shrugged. "After we managed to get through the Separatist lines when so many of our men weren't. That hole opened too conveniently." He took a deep breath before going on. "I've been asking myself 'why' a lot lately. And I started to finally see the pattern. Every time I was almost on an even keel, something would happen, and the Chancellor was always, somehow, connected to the events that hit me in the face."

"Ahsoka?"

"Tarkin is the Chancellor's hand-picked man," Anakin said, more at peace with mentions of her trial since seeing her, hugging her, giving her back the lightsabers she never should have lost.

Obi-Wan started to speak, but had to bite it off as there was a new fight to cope with. What could they do, if they were in the middle of a trap, and only Anakin had seen it in time? Or, hopefully anyway.

"We'd never make it stick," Anakin said after the next fight. "He needs to not leave this ship."

"He needs to answer for his crimes, Anakin, if he is the Sith!" Obi-Wan retorted, while trying not to be too judgmental at the practical reasoning.

Anakin eye-rolled at that, but he let his words stand just as he'd said them. The Chancellor needed to never leave this ship... but they couldn't just abandon the mission without... a lot of problems. They had to at least pretend they didn't know exactly what was going on. 

Because they did. He was sure of it. The vision he'd had, combined with the long chain of 'circumstances' that had all connected to destabilize him again... he was absolutely certain. He was holding the devastation and betrayal he felt behind every barrier he could -- he couldn't afford that distraction. 

He had to keep his beloved Master and brother alive and get them out of this. That was the only thing that mattered. 

A few minutes later, with Obi-Wan having let Anakin lead, and the elder Jedi noted something. "We're being herded," he said in a low voice. "The doors that are conveniently disabled, the points where we run into droids… we cannot escape this ship without confronting the supposed prisoner."

He did not like that. He did not want to risk Anakin to a trap like this, one that his young friend would walk away from, but with how many layers of pain and turmoil on top of it. That meant honestly being careful about every move he made once he got where the Sith -- both of them -- had laid the trap fully.

"Yes," Anakin agreed. He hadn't been entirely sure, but... they definitely were. Kriff. "No choice but to push through it, then." 

They had to get all the way to the top of the conn spire. Time to hurry up -- given the battle raging outside, they could still wind up victims of the attempt to defend Coruscant in the chaos. The Order knew the Chancellor was on the _Hand_ , but it was also throwing a lot of ordnance at the cruisers and the surface. 

Dooku was here, he would be there... could they turn that into something they could use? Dooku hated him, always had, he'd loathe being a... stepping-stone, an interim. But how to make him see it?

"You're thinking to play them off each other?" Obi-Wan questioned, as he fell more in tune with Anakin, readying to play the part he had to. There would be a fight, and that meant they had to be in sync. They were The Team, much as he hated the holo-marketing around them, and they could use that to survive this entire mess.

How best to do that was a mystery… unless he could somehow use Qui-Gon against Dooku?

"I'm thinking it's the best idea going -- but how's still escaping me. You've got something?" Anakin could feel their ability to synch settling in, unity of purpose and need making them something more than they were every day. 

"Maybe." It would not be subtle, not really. But he could throw out a comparison at Dooku that would not be common knowledge outside the Temple.

Would Dooku believe it?

"Okay. What do I need to do to back you?" Or not do, to not completely wreck it. 

"Not certain. Try to let me engage Dooku first. Concentrate on his droids instead," Obi-Wan offered. "I just need to pass a few words with him, and we'll know soon after if he understands."

"Since we know he'll have them," Anakin agreed. "Alright." 

They were as prepared as they could be, falling into their battle meditation variant, and readying… for anything.

Nor did they waste time on posturing. The Chancellor was there, supposedly alone… but his glance up and back was warning enough where the other enemy would stage an entrance.

Obi-Wan dropped his robe off of his shoulders… and then did something most self-respecting Jedi would not by Force-throwing the wad of fabric at the nearest of the B2s. It was a move that would have little effect… but tell Dooku that the game had changed.

Abandoning his Master to the Count burned, but Obi-Wan could handle him for a few seconds. Anakin had shucked his outer robe as well and slammed the momentarily-blinded B2 into the other with a flex of telekinesis even as he charged them, reflecting bolts back into them until he could take them apart. 

Obi-Wan did not give Anakin more than the edge of his awareness, focusing on Dooku, who had hesitated on that unconventional tactic. The cruel eyes glinted at him, a touch of a smile on his lips as he executed the makashi salute and prepared to cross blades with his grand-padawan again.

"Now that was a maneuver worthy of Qui-Gon's apprentice," Dooku praised, and Obi-Wan wanted to both kiss the Force for making that opening and punch Dooku for having that name in his mouth.

"Funny," he said, squelching his temper, "that you should say that. I'd always seen you as akin to Xanatos, all these years.

"Yet, in the end, you are more of a Feemor in the true design of it all."

The words landed, and that brilliant tactical mind, despite its twisting to the Dark Side, processed them. It led to a flurry of blows, ones Obi-Wan was hard-pressed to turn aside, but the Force had another gift for them.

"Anakin! Your master! He is in need, and you should dispatch the true enemy of the Republic, not those tools!"

Something in the words preyed at Dooku's surety that Obi-Wan was lying, sawed against his convictions in himself. The assault looked vicious in the next moments… but the footwork and bladework alike were pushing Obi-Wan, and carrying Dooku, ever closer to the 'prisoner'.

Dooku knew that Feemor, long-promised as Qui-Gon's first padawan, had lost the joy of it after Qui-Gon met Xanatos. Feemor had been trained in a perfunctory manner, perfectly done, but with the knowledge that Qui-Gon was going to push him to his trials as soon as Xanatos was of age. To be compared to that situation, with Palpatine's interest in Skywalker, and the Force-manipulation in the words? Obi-Wan was right, damn the boy, and he would not stand for it!

Anakin finished the second B2 off and turned back towards the fight -- the Chancellor's words sinking deep but... sliding off the mental defenses he had up? He'd thrown compulsion behind that?! He would go aid his Master, but he was not going to rush in. He and Obi-Wan had been training to go against Dooku again. As he leapt down the stairs, he felt his Master push caution and an odd sense of satisfaction to him, and he came up more warily, watching what was happening. 

Obi-Wan had shifted to the two-handed grip to turn aside the more powerful blows, but Anakin could feel that it was more show than effort, that they had found a give-and-take in the fight that looked convincing, yet was disguising the real intent.

A glance toward the Chancellor showed the man was frowning, fingers tightening where they rested, ostensibly manacled to the chair. It would be a good idea to start recording things, like a vod would, in an unfamiliar situation, but all he had was his audio-only comm link for Artoo.

He activated it, maxing out the reception capability, and hoped to hear anything incriminating. He joined the fight, but so that they kept apparently losing ground against keeping Dooku from the Chancellor. 

"Anakin, you are stronger than this! You must end him to protect the Republic! He means to kill me, can't you see? The Republic needs me, Anakin! It needs this endless war to be removed! Show your full skill!"

Anakin and Obi-Wan both felt the faint ripple that turned into a tidal wave of Kaminoan size within the Force, all rage and betrayal and aggression as those words prodded Dooku past his formidable control. He broke off from the fight with the Jedi, throwing a piece of droid debris at each even as he summoned the lightning.

"You mean to betray me to that young whelp?! You do so at the cost of your life, oh my **former** Master!" Dooku roared, casting a crackling wave of electricity toward the chair where Palpatine was 'held'.

Obi-Wan sliced the debris aimed his way and fell back, urging Anakin to do likewise as the lightning was… caught?

He'd seen Master Yoda manage that feat, and did not relish the idea of trying to deal with the Sith master.

"You were never anything but an instrument of my tuning!" Palpatine snapped at Dooku, knowing his secret was out, and too enraged to hide his temper.

"We have to escape!" Obi-Wan hissed at Anakin, realizing that even together, they were no match for Palpatine if, no, **when** he won the Sith duel that was now igniting as Palpatine proved his manacles did not hold him.

"You think?" Anakin hissed back, and was grateful he hadn't killed all the lifts. He ran for it, his Master right behind him. Dropping down the shaft sounded better than being trapped in one of the cars, so he started wrenching at the door of the right-hand one with the Force as they covered the distance. Not happening, but his lightsaber would go through it. 

"Are we going to do the thing that annoys your admiral so?" Obi-Wan asked as he got his aplomb back. Later, he would analyze the fear that had lashed through him. He knew he should be angry, but the moment Palpatine had defended himself had shaken him fully.

Was that the power of the Dark Side, then? An ability to rattle the most steadfast Jedi?

"Absolutely," Anakin agreed, cutting into the door, enough that they could kick it in. Hot metal splattered both of them, but so what. Compared to the battle behind them -- where Dooku's lightsaber and.. and Sidious's (he used the Sith name deliberately, forcing himself to accept it) Force Lightning and telekinesis were turning the observation deck into a whirlwind of everything not welded down -- a few burns were nothing. "Slice the guides on our way down," he said, as having a turbolift suddenly come down, or up, at them was not his idea of fun. 

"A good plan," Obi-Wan agreed, wondering if he would ever get away from having to open ship doors with lightsabers. The memory of Qui-Gon and his lightsaber against the blast doors on the Trade Federation ship came to mind in the next instant, and he almost smiled.

It was enough to touch the bond between he and his padawan, even as he leapt into the void, hoping Artoo had solved the ship problem for them.

Anakin leaned into the touch of his Master's mind, comforted by his presence, and concentrated on disabling the cars as they fell through the ship's gravity. "Artoo, buddy, can you get any audio you picked up from that out to every capital ship's bridge?" 

Yeah, one of those was Tarkin's, and that would be a whole different problem, but there were at least fifty capital ships out there, most of them with Jedi Generals in command. The Jedi had to know, even if they were captured (again). _Not_ that he was giving up. 

[Teach a protocol droid to fuss,] Artoo sniped at him, showing that the recent damage was making him testy. [Recognized trouble, broadcasting out, data packet bursts sent into the droid 'net,] he reported. [Out on level three delta,] he added. [Escape ship there.]

"What's he saying?" Obi-Wan asked over the rush in his ears from the controlled fall.

"He's already sending it out, thinks I'm an idiot for asking, and we need level three delta to get out of here," Anakin relayed, "he's apparently got a ship for us." 

"Coming up soon, then," Obi-Wan said, failing to be too surprised that Artoo --

\-- Oh.

Artoo had been Padmé's droid. Or part of her retinue, as Obi-Wan was hazy on the lecture he'd gotten after the droid was recovered that one mission. And that was one Senator that was going to take this worse than any other.

"Of course he already broadcast it. He's loyal to _her_ even if he does work with you these days."

"Yeah," Anakin agreed, "he sure is." 

They lit on the thin lip of the three delta door, and cut into it (having to be a bit more careful not to tumble off. 

"I wonder what ship he found for -- "

The words cut off as a particular sound of a heavy, metal-plated opponent dropping on the level's decking got both their attention.

"Force's sake, he's aboard still?" Obi-Wan sighed, exasperated as he ignited his lightsaber to face Grievous. "Aren't you supposed to be running away now?" he asked as the cybernetic general brought up his own lightsabers, all four of them.

"...he's shorter than I expected," Anakin said to his Master, rather than the cyborg, "and I sorta wish Snips were here. Guess we'll just have to live up to her."

"I suppose we shall," Obi-Wan said in the dryest of tones. He did hope their padawan -- no matter what the Order had said, what she had chosen, she was theirs -- was holding her own against the plots on Mandalore. Anakin did have a point, though, given the number of times Ahsoka had faced this Jedi killer and come out on top.

Anakin's saber sang softly in his hand, as he eyed Grievous. "You know, Sidious and Dooku are up there trying to kill each other, and every Jedi ship out there knows Sidious' secret," he said, voice as dry as his Master's, trying to spook the metallic monster into the flight he was so good at. 

"Then I have nothing to lose, by killing you both, for whichever one survives the fight!" Grievous said, moving to spin the four blades, taking advantage of the tighter battleground to prevent their escape.

"Funny. The only way Sidious can fix things for himself, if we die, is if he kills you, claims the data was a fraud, and that we died to put him on an escape ship." Obi-Wan was studying the pattern, taking to heart that yes, Ahsoka continually had evaded death by this fighter. Was just her speed and lack of height?

He threw himself into the bond with Anakin, planning to go left and low, relying on Anakin to keep the right occupied.

This was what they were, who they were, and though Grievous had no finesse, the hours they'd trained to handle a single opponent still proved useful. Anakin sank into the bond and fought, striking out with the Force against the pockets of soft tissue he could see in every moment he had the opportunity. Ahsoka'd taught him he didn't have to have his hands to Push, he'd karking well use that.

Obi-Wan hadn't fought on the lower side of a battle in years; as a padawan he'd used Ataru's athleticism to make up for his lack of height. Yet, he'd studied her jar'kai, seen the things she'd adapted from Ventress's style… and he had gotten his primary skill bead in lightsaber use.

He fell deeper into who they were, and a moment later, Grievous lacked a hand, giving Obi-Wan a new lightsaber to truly use the dual-handed methods. The crystal cried in both relief and sorrow for what it had been through, adding a level of vindication as he and Anakin became one fighter in two bodies.

As a hand on the right side hit the decking, allowing Anakin to grab the 'saber as it released, one of Grievous's eyes ruptured under the Force-pushes. The general screamed, attempting to flee, leaping for the ceiling to scuttle along it, but Anakin slashed up through the cloak and into the back.

Obi-Wan refused to scold the pragmatic approach this time. They'd had that fight once. His padawan, his brother, did not need it now, not when they both needed to hurry. The pressure within the Force that was building, up above in the spire, was too close to coming to a head and he wanted them off the ship before it hit.

[This way!] Artoo whistled shrilly from further down the corridor.

"We're coming, Artoo, we're coming!" Anakin called as Grievous fell almost on top of him, and ran. Behind them, down a different corridor, he could hear the clanking steps of magna-guards -- great, like they needed _those_ to deal with, too?! More reason to get to the ship before the clanking things got close. 

Obi-Wan called the other two lightsabers to him; they belonged at rest in the Temple. Then he took off at a sprint, ears and eyes and Force on the lookout for more threats. He did not want to deal with any more droids, and did not want to be caught by whichever Sith survived the final end above.

It was too much to hope they killed each other.

He skidded to a stop as they got to a launch bay… and realized just what ship Artoo had found. "Please tell me you already hacked the transponder, or we will be shot on sight," he said, as it was none other than the heavily modified Punworcca 116-class interstellar sloop that belonged to Dooku.

[Why do you both think I'm _incompetent_ today?!] Artoo demanded furiously, swivelling his dome to flash red up at the elder Jedi. [Of course I did! And deactivated the pilot droid. _Organics_!] 

"He's sorry, Artoo, he's sorry," Anakin said, running up the dropped ramp. 

"Yes, I am," Obi-Wan said with sincere contriteness as he ran up just at Anakin's heels. "Let's get out of here and go deal with the fall out," he added, even as the ship was buffeted suddenly with volleys of turbo-laser fire. "As I think they've taken the recording seriously!"

"You said a mouthful, Master!" Anakin agreed, preflighting and getting up on repulsors as fast as he could, quickly double-checking the broadcast on the transponder as he shot for the entrance. The shields opened, turbolaser fire shot in, but he avoided it and shot up and up. This thing wasn't a fighter, and it was slow until the solar sail was deployed. Even he'd never make it through the madness down there, not without an escort. 

"Coming in on your port and starboard," came a voice over the comms as soon as Artoo turned cabin audio on to the Republic channels. 

"Thank Force… Is that Catcher?" Obi-Wan asked, fairly certain the cadence matched one of his own fighter pilots.

"Yes, sir!" Catcher answered, and Anakin breathed a sigh of relief himself. 

"Good to see you, men," he said across the comm. "Brush, that you?" 

"Yes sir!" Brush said, excited that his general had recognized him.

"Grateful for the protection; can you escort us all the way down?" Obi-Wan wanted that comm link recording safely on the planet where it could be verified as untampered with.

He also wanted out of the firing line, as more Ventators were turning their batteries onto the _Invisible Hand_.

"Roger that, General Kenobi," Catcher sent back over the comms before shooting a droid fighter out of their path.

Anakin would've honestly preferred getting aboard a Ventator, but... his Master also wasn't wrong. They needed that recording on the ground. "This thing's about as maneuverable as an aiwha, boys, sorry you're gonna have to do all the work." 

"We have you, sir!"

The flight down was not without a few near misses, a small clip of the ship fin with debris, and more than a few curses from astromech and pilot, but the men kept them safe, sometimes joined by others.

Both Anakin and Obi-Wan were thrown a little forward when a Ventator-class ship, already suffering from more damage than could be survived, evacuated all personnel save a small flight crew, and went, all engines full, into the _Invisible Hand_ to sign that ship's death warrant.

"Force keep them, any who didn't make it off," Obi-Wan said once they knew what had caused the massive explosion.

Anakin murmured the same, under his breath, and only breathed even half easy once they were down in the atmosphere, out of the chaos. He headed straight for the Temple -- and as they neared the Temple precincts, he fell forward in the seat as something (somethings?) in his head... snapped. 

"Anakin?!" Obi-Wan called out, as the ship wobbled… and then Artoo had control of it. He at least adhered to traffic regulations for the most part, allowing Obi-Wan to get over to Anakin. "Anakin, what is it?"

"I -- " Anakin struggled to blink his eyes open, to look at his Master, feeling hollow, emptied, tasting sand and blood... "I... think... he's dead?" 

Obi-Wan paled for a moment, then he put a hand on Anakin's shoulder. "I don't know if that makes it worse or better, my friend."

"It hurts," Anakin admitted quietly, leaning into that hand. "I... a lot." 

"Almost there. Artoo, do you need me to take the controls?"

[You handle pilot!] the droid informed him, reinforcing what Obi-Wan wanted to do clearly enough that even his binary translation worked.

"I suppose he told me," the elder Jedi said with a wan smile, moving to brush Anakin's hair back.

Anakin laughed at that, if weakly. "Yeah... but now who's fussing, Artoo?" 

_Kriff_ , his head hurt, he hurt... it felt a little like those first hours after Dooku took his arm, that there was this space where something... wasn't. 

[Have to,] Artoo retorted even as he heeded directions to land not in a bay but the courtyard itself.

"We'll be able to deal with it soon enough, Anakin. None of this… could have happened, if you hadn't caught the true trap of it all." Obi-Wan took a deep breath. "We just have to find a way to protect our men now from the fallout."

That sent enough adrenaline coursing through his veins that it almost cancelled out the pain... but only almost. Their men. The clone army, commissioned by a mad Jedi that had been Dooku's best friend, revealed at just the time the Republic needed them most... in something that had turned out to truly be a _dejarik_ game -- what was going to happen to them? 

_Nothing_ , if he had his way, except the karking freedom they had always deserved. 

"It is a better problem to consider, if this war does end with all of this chaos we've sown," Obi-Wan told his former padawan. "They deserve all we can do for them."

"They deserve everything the _entire Republic_ can do for them," Anakin replied, but nodded. Obi-Wan was right, at least it was something to think about. Something that wasn't everything surging and bubbling behind the walls he'd flung up. 

The ship settled on its landing gear about then, and Artoo disconnected from the ports he'd commandeered to be able to pilot. Obi-Wan straightened, then offered Anakin a hand up… with a flow of energy for him if he needed it.

Anakin accepted the hand, and the offered support, letting his Master's strength bolster his own. "Thanks," he said quietly, raking a hand through his hair, suddenly nervous about what was outside even past the pounding headache. 

Together, they stepped outside, and found Master Sinube, Master Windu, and Master Yoda all waiting, as well as Commander Thire representing the Home Guard waiting for them. To the side, Bail Antilles was there for the Senate, looking both harried and slightly singed along the shoulder of his cape.

Obi-Wan spotted the kerchief in Windu's hand, and noted it was bloodied, indicating that what they had done had overwhelmed his shatterpoints most violently.

"I take it, Master Sinube and Commander Thire, you want the comm link the message came through?" Obi-Wan said aloud, to give them all the opening.

"And I will remain with them through the forensic testing," Bail said, "to verify the lack of tampering after it is relinquished."

Beside Anakin, Artoo made an indignant noise, but subsided at his hand on his dome. "I'd guess this ship is a corusca mine of data, Masters, so who's securing _it_?" 

"Hm... a good point," Yoda said, a thoughtful hum deep in his throat. 

"Sir, if you will allow?" Commander Thire said, raising a hand to call for a squadron. 

"Master Sinube, assign two Sentinels to remain as well, until we can get a mixed representative intelligence group together," Master Windu said firmly. 

"Yes, that is a wise precaution, in case the Sith had further acolytes," Sinube agreed, fishing out his own comm link to arrange matters in Ki-Adi's absence.

"Or more mundane accomplices," Anakin said, well able to think of a few people he would put on that list. Tarkin and Mas Amedda were competing for the top spot at the moment -- which wasn't doing any good for the ache in his head or the mess that was trying to escape his control. 

"Masters, Senator, Commander? We'd just come from a fight, to the fight, to -- " and Kenobi just waved at the ship for explanation. 

"Of course, Sirs," Thire said respectfully. Only because they were so accustomed to hearing stress patterns in their own men could they make out just how rattled Thire was.

And why was it Thire? Where was Fox?

"Healing hall first, then remain in the Temple until the hearing is convened." Mace suggested. "We're still mopping up some droid mayhem here on the surface anyway."

Compassion, out of Master Windu? Anakin was surprised, but relieved, and bowed to the Master of the Order. "Thank you, Master. And you can add Grievous to the confirmed dead, for some good news." 

Thire's head snapped to him, then there was a sharp, fierce salute. "That is good news, sir."

Obi-Wan made certain the comm link had been passed over, and then started on his way after nodding to them all. He was bone-tired… and worried for Anakin.

+++

Shaak Ti was still in the medical area of the Temple, recovering from the brutal fight that had taken the Chancellor away. Stass had recovered enough, mostly exhausted, to go and ready to return to her troops, but Shaak had taken more damage in the fight. She opened her eyes to see Skywalker and Kenobi, the latter supporting the former, come in and immediately move to a berth.

She had thought they were both in the outer reach of the war's battles, yet it was no surprise to see they had been recalled. Skywalker was a close friend of the Chancellor, and a talented Knight for innovative tactics. Where he went, Kenobi was rarely far behind.

"I hope they don't send that message out just yet," Kenobi said once he had Anakin stretched out, and had taken a chair to wait for one of the healers to come over. "The men are going to need solid support, which means telling their Jedi and Fleet to walk carefully with the revelation."

" _Force_ ," Skywalker muttered, "you're right. That -- Thire was holding himself together, but..." 

Shaak could hear the unvoiced 'not by much'. 

"I am concerned it was Thire and not Fox. I would have expected that one to come straight to the Temple… yes, Anakin, I know. He thought he was discharging his duty, then, and even Rex said he was shaken by having killed a vod," Obi-Wan said, catching the scowl at the mention of the man that killed Fives. "But his duty as head of the Guard should have prompted him to come to where we would land, by any means.

"Then again, he might have died in the initial attacks."

"He was alive the last I knew," Shaak volunteered. "What development? Did we fail to free the Chancellor, Obi-Wan?"

Skywalker growled in response, and his hand went to his temple for a moment, his eyes half-shut with pain. "You didn't -- well, no, you're here. I... had a vision, a warning, from the Force, it -- " He obviously struggled to speak for a moment, then obviously gave up and flicked his eyes up at Kenobi to continue. 

"Anakin, sleep. I am sure a healer will be free from the trauma cases soon," Obi-Wan said very softly, hand petting over his former padawan's arm. He then looked at Shaak Ti. "We, hmm, disrupted Sith plans quite bluntly, because Anakin realized he was being manipulated.

"I was able to use a bit of past errors by my own Master to prod Dooku into seeing that he had been set up as much as we had been, with this sham of an abduction, to force Anakin to come back to Coruscant." He shook his head. "I fear what the outcome would have been, if Anakin hadn't seen the trap."

Skywalker actually laid down, pulling booted feet up onto the berth, and turned himself on his side as though he might listen. Shaak blinked twice at that, while she listened... and felt all the blood draining from her face at 'sham' of an abduction and the idea that Dooku had been somehow set up, but the only explanation for _that_ was -- 

"Obi-Wan..." she heard herself nearly begging for another explanation, something that didn't mean that Fives' hysterics had been truth, that she hadn't brought the only surviving Domino back where he had to die for what he knew, that Corobb and Moudana, Masona and Utrila hadn't died for nothing because the Chancellor was -- 

He met her gaze, and sighed softly. "Master, I try not to lie outside of negotiations," he said, "and that only as necessitated by the scoundrels I am dealing with. The Chancellor played the entire Republic for fools. And I fear how that will set with the men that have paid the heaviest cost of it all."

The reach of this revelation was going to shatter some of the men. Some would shrug and say they were made to die anyway. But somehow, they had to give the proper support, and endure the backlash for having been so blind.

The truth echoed through the Force, striking off ripples, and Shaak fought to swallow down unfamiliar nausea, to control herself. "I... oh, by the Huntress, Obi-Wan, how could we all have been so blinded?" 

How could he hide, from Kit and Master Tiin and Master Plo? From Master Yoda? 

All this time, more than a decade, at least one or two had been in his presence _daily_ , and no one had had even a hint? It was beyond her understanding. "And you're right, the men will... this is going to go so badly." 

"Given how fiercely dutiful Thire was being, I suspect the combat energy is all that is keeping it from truly setting in yet. Hence my hopes that the information has been contained to the bit of the Army that is here, so we can actually prepare for aiding the rest of them." He cut off as a very recently made Knight came out of the back areas to discover their needs, leaving Shaak to ruminate over all of this while Skywalker was seen to.

"I join you there," Shaak agreed, and politely turned her attention away from Skywalker's care as she focused inward to try to deal with her own shock, grief, and betrayal. She had to do that, before she could consider how to break all of this to the cadets. 

She couldn't help hearing the Knight's urgent call for Master Tiin, and that left her with new concerns... but ones for later. Skywalker could not be in better hands, if a telepath was needed, with Master Plo so far away. And if she remembered right, it was Saesee that had handled many of Skywalker's piloting tests, so they had that connection already. 

+++

Anakin was sleeping, soundly, or perhaps in a slight coma, given how wrecked Master Tiin had been by the time they finished sweeping away the layers of compulsion and falsely amplified experiences. Obi-Wan had won the battle of going back to quarters, arguing that Anakin would need the familiarity. 

He'd almost regretted it, seeing bits of Ahsoka's life still tangled up in the suite he and Anakin had shared for so long. Yet, maybe that would help. There was a reason now, for all of that, one that pointed at the Force having protected the girl from Fate.

The last thing Anakin needed, though, was a comm coming in for him from a private source. Obi-Wan hastily suppressed the noise, and used the Force to remove the device from Anakin's wrist. It chirped again as soon as he had it in his hand and without thinking, Obi-Wan answered the comm.

"Obi-Wan here," he said in a very soft voice as he left his young Knight's room to go into the living area.

"Oh. I… Is Anakin alright? Are you?" came Padmé's voice.

Because of course it was. Obi-Wan was no idiot, knew those two were in a relationship, but he had respected Anakin's privacy on the matter. It was all he could do as an apology for his rough handling of the beginning of it on Geonosis.

"He is sleeping. I probably should be, as I have no doubt the inquest will be in the morning and one of us must be there."

"He -- _sleeping_? Really?" Padmé asked, shocked right down to her core. Sleep was the last thing he would have expected to appeal to Anakin right now, with the news that had been brought by grim-faced Guardsmen. She'd have expected him to be either training -- hard -- or ripping apart some mechanical mystery. "And I'm very glad to hear your voice and know you're safe, my friend." 

For all that she sometimes wanted to slap him for the way he treated Anakin, Padmé also knew they had a deep bond. She'd worried, since they'd gotten him back, that any more real harm coming to Obi-Wan might be the blow Anakin truly couldn't withstand. 

"If you want the unofficial report, I'd ask Artoo for it over his encryption," Obi-Wan volunteered. "I trust your discretion, and I know that Anakin should, Force willing, sleep for a very long while. He's had a rough time of it, as you might guess."

"I can barely imagine," Padmé agreed softly, "but that's quite horrific enough. I think it best I _not_ appear to have any additional knowledge, though I'd dearly love to ask Artoo for everything. 

"I just... wanted to hear his voice. But if he's asleep, he _should_ sleep. Force knows you couldn't tell he ever does from the holonet. I would very much appreciate it, though, if he could make time to see me before he leaves Coruscant, though, Obi-Wan. Please." 

Leaving Coruscant. Force, but he had to somehow arrange for backup for the escapade on Mandalore. He trusted in Rex. He even trusted Ahsoka despite her youth. But … well, later for that.

"I will make certain of it, milady," he said mildly, hiding all of his own worries about the men, about their unit still out there in a guerilla war that was not authorized.

"Thank you," Padmé answered. When Obi-Wan gave his word, you could be certain he would keep it. She wasn't pleased not to have spoken to Anakin, but she wasn't pleased about anything at the moment, so. What was one more?

"Do be well, my friend," Obi-Wan said, before turning the comm off and then programming it to only take messages. That done, he floated it back into Anakin's room, next to his boots and other gear.

That done, he eyed the bedroom, then the 'fresher… and decided this time, sleep was the winning factor. Cody would see to the 212th, and the part of the 501st that had come with them.

+++

When Anakin woke, his head was much clearer, and… every misstep was so clear, with their print of Sith manipulation on it. All of his self-doubt had been magnified, his reaction to experiences magnified or dampened, all to make him less stable.

There was a note for him, near his belt and 'saber, for him to go see his lady, with Obi-Wan's initials at the bottom. Artoo had come in at some point, after making certain all the security forces were satisfied about the evidence, giving copies of transmissions to his pilot that corroborated the attempt to manipulate the Knight to Fall.

[Better now?] Artoo asked him.

"Sort of," Anakin answered, as he sat down next to Artoo and wrapped his arm around him above his booster housings. "I... Master Tiin had to go in and remove a _lot_ of... malware, I guess, that was clogging up my brain, buddy. I feel better, but there's so much stuff I did wrong. And I'm really not sure how much I trust myself right now." 

[Have me. Have Senator. Have Snips too, soon?] Artoo asked, hopeful on that last. He got his clasper arm out and gently held onto his pilot's arm with it.

"Snips! Kriff, I need to check in with her -- " Anakin said, looking for his comm. Ah, there. Obi-Wan must've taken it off of him while he was out. He pulled it to him... and found an update from his padawan (she was, kriff it, his student and friend and sister, his padawan). Things were okay there, they thought they had a plan for Maul. Okay. Good. "Or she could beat me to it. Let's go see Padmé and Threepio, huh?" 

He got back to his feet carefully, not dislodging Artoo's grip. Artoo held on for just a bit more, then let him go so he could dress. 

[Threepio said Senator has been busy, but is in apartment,] the droid offered.

"I'm really glad of that, buddy." He wasn't sure he could take being in public. Thankfully, the Temple had plenty of transports and his Master had told him to do something, so they weren't even sneaking off. It was a quick trip down to the hangar, and not all that long to 500 Republica. 

Long enough for him to see plenty of the damage done, though. "Force... things got ugly down here." 

[Yes. Pulled damage reports from Droid'Net.] He let out a long, sad whistle. [Some Republic droids damaged, even offlined, because of organic fear.]

Artoo and Kix had had a long talk about Kix's tat. And there were times when Artoo got angry to see the Separatist droid armies, because they'd been made, just like the men, and were treated as just as disposable as the men were by Fleet.

"Damn it," Anakin said, shaking his head. "That's not... I'm sorry, buddy." 

He kept piloting until they came up to Padmé's balcony, and looked at Artoo. "You think you'll be okay to go park this thing, or are we telling traffic control we don't care it's staying parked here?" 

He was _not_ risking Artoo. 

[I park. Not typical shape for battle droid. Will have security once parked.] Artoo was confident in that and would actually call for Captain Typho to send him an escort.

"Okay," Anakin agreed, reached to lay a hand on his partner, and then vaulted off and onto the balcony to go look for his wife. 

Nor did he have to look far, as the sensor net had warned her, and she was waiting just inside, a large robe that fell thick around her, her hair down around her face. She was being patient, staying well back from the entrance, the lighting of the apartment subdued enough that where she was seemed so dark after the bright of outside.

"Ani?"

"Angel," he said softly, moving to her, reaching for her hands as he neared her. "Hi. Are you... I didn't look at anything but a report from Ahsoka, I have no idea what... anyone knows." 

"Between the inquest, which Obi-Wan handled, the data in Dooku's ship, and that initial broadcast?" Padme gave him her hands, keeping back from hugging him so she could look in his eyes. "The Republic knows their beloved hero has been fighting a silent battle all this time and still saving them."

"Oh, _Force_ ," Anakin muttered, shaking his head as he dropped his eyes, "I wish they'd give that a rest... or find somebody else to throw it on. It's only going to get worse now, isn't it?" 

"And that's going to make things… interesting," Padmé said, as she drew his hands to her waist, trying to be decisive, not terrified of how hard this news might land on him. "Because we are expecting, Ani."

"We -- what?" Anakin just stared at her, as she pulled his hands to the... curve, swelling rise nothing like her usual slim frame, of her belly. They were careful, always, she was -- but the change in her couldn't be denied. Nor could the ripple in the Force, the response to heat so close, that completely knocked the breath out of him. 

He had to look like an idiot, he realized several seconds later, and tried to drag in a breath. "I -- that's... wow. _Wow_." 

Was this why everything had happened now? Had _he_ known? 

She would take that reaction. It was positive, not fearful. "I don't know how we will handle it from here. I am going to face scrutiny because of my part in his rise, but I have been fighting him so hard of late… 

"Naboo has strong customs on family, though. And between the past, and this? I may be asked not to seek re-election."

"I'm sorry," he told her, sliding his hands past hers to wrap his arms around her back and move closer to her, holding her carefully but close. "I know this's all you've ever wanted to do, angel. And I have no idea, either. But... we'll figure it out. I. This is wonderful news, Padmé. 

"Even if it scares me. We're going to have a _baby_. With a thousand uncles, a squad of aunts, and one Togruta aunt that just might come **home**..." 

"She'd better!" Padmé said firmly. "She never should have run off. I would have helped her out." She then pushed harder into his hold. "I don't care if I lose the seat, so long as the men are protected in the fallout of all of this."

Anakin kissed her for that, ignoring the herd of bantha raging around in his gut and kicking that was his fright about what the hell they were going to do. Kissing Padmé always made everything... clearer. Better. Easier. 

The galaxy stopped being so complicated when she was in his arms, her love a near-physical thing wrapping him up. 

+++

Obi-Wan rubbed his face as he left the meeting with Appo, so recently made a Captain, and Cody, his beloved Commander. The rest of their command staffs had been present, and at present, they were going to repair the main ships, shift squadrons as needed, and basically take three days more to get fully battle ready.

Cap -- **Commander** Rex's dispatches on behalf of his provisional general indicated that more men would only be a hindrance on Mandalore, but they anticipated withdrawal by week's end at this rate.

He'd been the one to go through the wringer at the Senatorial Inquest. The unlamented Senator of Ryloth had dropped dead of a heart attack, they had told him.

Commander Fox was on suicide watch, and had been stopped by a young lieutenant from committing it earlier. They had specifically asked for and gotten Sha Koon to help him sort out his head, and to help him work past the murder of a fellow vod, as he now counted the killing of ARC Trooper Fives.

He was bone-tired still, having gotten little rest before the demands for answers had roused him. Now, as he turned into their quarters, he could only hope that Anakin had gone to his Senator, settled himself, and that they would not -- Force willing -- wind up in some strange argument.

Anakin was in the kitchen, working on one of his Master's favorite meals in the -- probably vain -- hope that he could get Obi-Wan to eat before he fell over. He knew from the sense of him that he was exhausted, and that generally meant he hadn't bothered to eat, either. He stuck his head to see the door... and sighed. "Five minutes, go grab a shower so you're still awake by then. Hi." 

Well. This was promising. "Thank you, Anakin," Obi-Wan said, dropping his robe when his attempt to put it on the hook failed. He went to the 'fresher and saw to that shower, as it was a glorious idea. The heat and pressure did wonders for beating back the fatigue and muscle aches.

Oh but he was feeling so much older than he should, and truly wished that more experienced Masters had been in the hot seat.

Anakin had called a 'you're welcome' after him, kept at the food until he could leave it, and then went to get clean clothing and stick it inside on the shelf closest to the 'fresher. His Master really was tired, if he hadn't even worried about that step. With what he could do done, he went back to the kitchen and got things ready to eat, out into bowls and onto plates. 

Roughly ten minutes later, Obi-Wan came out in leggings and under-tunic. "It smells delicious. Did you find my note?" he asked as he sat down in his accustomed spot, noting that Ahsoka's last project had been carefully moved to her side of the breakfast nook table.

He missed those rare chaotic moments when all three of them would be present in an apartment that had only ever been meant for two.

"Yeah," Anakin agreed, "I did -- thanks. But you're about dead on your feet, so we can talk about what she wanted once you've had food and sleep, Master. It's nothing bad, for once. 

"I don't even want to ask how bad the Senate was, do I?" 

"It was interesting," was what Obi-Wan decided on for that. "But you and I are officially on recovery leave with our units, three days. Per Commander Rex, that should be all they need to either bring their campaign to an end, or actually require assistance."

He took a bite of the food, and sighed in appreciation. "This is good."

"I hope I know how to feed you by now," Anakin replied, with a flash of a smile, "and... Rex's sure? Ahsoka sounded like she was, in her last message, but... Rex's more practical." 

"I am choosing to trust his assessment. He is, after all, as experienced as Cody, and more versatile in predicting his Jedi," Obi-Wan said with a faint smile. He then applied himself to his food more intently, forcing himself not to worry.

"Yeah, can't argue with that," Anakin decided, and matched Obi-Wan's attention to his food. He would have really liked to stay with Padmé, but he'd been worried about his Master. 

She had shooed him out, stating she needed to receive some of the other Senators later, which took skill to hide her condition. Having the Jedi her friends teased her over in the apartment would only have made it harder.

Finally Obi-Wan sat back from the table a little and looked at Anakin. "Thank you again. Will you be out tonight? I took the liberty of going over recovery and duty schedules with Appo and your staff already."

Anakin shook his head. "No. She's going to be hosting some of the Senators, trying to... manage things as best she can, for most of the night. I'll probably go down to the hangar and see what help I can be for a while. But I'll be here." 

"Her voice was missed today," Obi-Wan said. "Bail said she's been busy crafting something to target the Chancellor's powers… that won't be needed as it was. He said she told him she would be tackling the limitations of power on that office instead, to offer as proof Naboo was not complicit."

Anakin nodded. "She still thought recusing herself from the smaller session was wise. And... huh. Not a bad idea, but... that's gonna be being contested for the next century, no matter what we do." 

"We know the truth of it, at least, Anakin. She was as much a victim as her people in his rise, and she has opposed many of his measures," Obi-Wan said. He then yawned, and had to shake his head to clear it. "Mind if I sleep myself out to avoid Helix's displeasure and you handle tomorrow's briefing of our men?

"Mostly them briefing us, unless something changes."

"I don't mind at all, Master," Anakin answered with a shake of his head. "You need it. Please, sleep. I'll take care of things." 

Obi-Wan rose, taking his dishes to the washing cabinet. When he came back by, he permitted himself to brush a hand along Anakin's arm. His padawan was safe. All else was merely sorting the details out.

Anakin reached to catch that brushing hand, pinning it in place with an open palm for a few seconds, looking up at his Master... before he let go again. He'd almost lost him, would have lost everything. But... they were going to be okay. Somehow. 

Obi-Wan paused there, then moved again, this time toward Anakin. "I… am relieved. That you saw the trap. That you escaped it. That you made it through. And no matter what choices you make from here, for your future… you have my support, Anakin."

He was almost certain that path would be away from the Temple, from the Order, but Anakin had more than earned the happiness of a life with the woman he patently loved.

"...thank you, Master. Obi-Wan. I... yeah." There was something sad in his Master's eyes, but truth, too, and calm. "Sleep well." 

"I hope to." Obi-Wan smiled some and then went to do just that.

+++

Ahsoka pushed herself up from the floor, every muscle sore and aching, now that they had seen the plan to fruition. The capture and turning over of Maul had been handled, but his forces had attacked in earnest right after Bo-Katan put a blaster bolt in the head of her sister's murderer.

She had led that fight with all she was, even as depleted as she was, until the bitter end. Now, having caught a breather, she went to find her comm officer, to get the report to Masters Kenobi and Skywalker. It had been good to see Obi-Wan on comm the day before when she and Rex had given a three day estimate.

She hadn't anticipated Maul moving when he did, but her boys and Bo's people had risen to the occasion. 

She was not surprised to find Rex there, already getting an encrypted channel set up. She leaned against a wall, deciding to let him handle this. It was his victory, as he'd handled so much of the actual battle to let her concentrate on the Sith warrior.

Anakin heard his comm and pounced on it, accepting the encrypted comm from his Ca -- Commander -- from Rex, grateful he was in the Temple and the relays had already handled most of the decryption. "Commander?" 

"General, Sir, objective has been accomplished. Requesting pickup as soon as we can, so we don't tread on the local toes," Rex said. "Primary was neutralized, permanently. Local leadership insured that."

Ahsoka half-smiled, but that was the best way to put it across comms.

"That's fantastic news," Anakin answered his Commander, his shoulders relaxing a little more. Dooku, Sidious, and Maul, all dead now. Maybe there was a chance for peace after all. "And roger that." 

He was torn between not wanting to leave Coruscant and wanting to be the hell off it yesterday (the first because Padmé was pregnant and he wanted to be there, the second because the Senate was going to want to rake him over the coals eventually), but he wasn't about to send the _Resolute_ through that much space without him. "See you soon." 

"Thank you, sir. Just very well aware of the complicated nature of our allies here, and our men need to be safe from anything blowing up."

Ahsoka smirked, but it was fair. She was certain she had Bo-Katan's pulse and thoughts, but Mandalorians could choose to go different ways, based on the past. And Bo was, despite her warrior nature, a Kryze.

"I know, Rex," Anakin answered... and peered into the comm, hoping for any sight of his padawan. "Your current general?" 

Rex turned and Ahsoka pushed off to come into the pickup area. "Hey, Skyguy," she said in a tired but easy voice. "Got my workout for the month," she added, to show she was fine.

"Glad to hear it, Snips," Anakin answered, breathing easier. "Don't go anywhere. Gotta talk to you, alright?" 

"Wasn't planning on leaving," she said, and that went two ways. She didn't know if there was a place for her with the GAR, while Bo did have a space for her in the new setup of Mandalore. She had not intended to go back with Rex and the men, but she wasn't leaving the planet.

Rex's frown was out of her sight, at least, and he schooled it quickly.

"All right," Anakin answered, barely managing not to match Rex's frown with one of his own, because if she meant not leaving Mandalore, that was... gonna be a problem. But at least now he knew she wasn't going to leave before he got there. 

Before he could tell her she was going to be an aunt. 

"Tell Master Obi-Wan hi from me," she said before leaving the pickup. Rex moved back and met Anakin's eyes. 

"Further orders, or should I just withdraw to the staging area?"

"Just pull back," Anakin agreed. "If she asks for any further help, give it, but let's stay out of their internal problems as much as you can, Rex." 

"Yes sir." Rex nodded to him and then killed transmission so that his general could go get things done.

+++

Ahsoka was actually working with the wounded still when the _Resolute_ arrived. That suited Rex; it meant she was firmly in among their people as Anakin strode off the grounded ship. Far easier to load everyone this way, all their equipment, even with the fuel cost of liftoff.

Rex met his General after giving the order of operations for loading back up, leaving medical to the last on Vasq's recommendation. Storms but he ached to have Kix back, even if Vasq and Coric were shaping into the duty well enough, the former here with them, and the latter having stayed with the 501st proper.

Anakin reached out for Rex's forearms with both hands, needing the reassurance of contact, of armor under his hands, of his first in command's hands wrapped around his arms, something solid enough to keep him grounded. The trip from Coruscant to Mandalore had given him far, far too much time to think, alone. "Force, but it's good to see you, Rex." 

"And you, sir," Rex said as he got his arms twisted to return that grasp just as firmly, only mindful of his gloves. "We were glad to get word from General Kenobi, and then you, but it is best to see you in person.

"Squads know their tasks already, will brief their brothers who come out to help. Our other General is in medical; Vasq asked that it be struck last, to give the ones in there a little more time without moving."

He had things he really needed to say, but he needed to say them in private, preferably in hyperspace… and he really hoped he was fast enough to stun his General if it came to that. He didn't want to, but his logic was chasing through to a suspect that was too close to Anakin Skywalker for Rex's peace of mind.

"Makes sense to me," Anakin answered, hanging on for a long moment. Rex felt tense, almost nervous, something circling in his thoughts... but he wasn't saying anything. Anakin let go, and said wryly, "So where's the heaviest lifting?" 

It was about a 60/40 chance Rex would just _look_ at him with 'no, sir' written all over his face and refuse to let him help with breaking the camp, but. There was the forty. 

"I think you might want to go check on medical," Rex said with a tact toward making Anakin feel useful but not wear himself out. "Before the new regime has a reason to call _our_ general back to that mess in the city."

Anakin's lips skinned back from his teeth for a moment, his eyes narrowing. That -- nope. He wasn't about to see that happen, not if he could help it. "Right. We need to talk, Rex, soon as we're shipboard. See you then if not before." 

With that, he headed that direction with a long, sharp stride. 

Kriff, but what did his General have on his mind, Rex wondered before moving to get things moving post-haste. The sooner the better, was his thought, on getting talks out of the way.

Anakin stepped into medical, his eyes still automatically looking for someone that wasn't there before he saw Vasq and Ahsoka, and moved towards them. "Hey, Vasq. Snips."

"Sir," Vasq replied, before politely and gently placing a hand on Ahsoka's elbow. "Go. You already did a lot of the work of getting them all secured for transport."

"You're su -- okay okay, moving, vod!" Ahsoka said as Vasq gave a long-suffering look her way. She then looked at Anakin. "Hello, Skyguy."

"Walk with me?" Anakin asked, planning on the top of a not-moving-yet lartie for this talk, since most of the tents would be being pulled down soon. 

"Alright." She fell in beside him, no longer quite so small next to him, and walked out of medical.

Anakin led, looked at where the _Resolute_ was and where the ships were, and went for the one most inconveniently parked. He leapt up onto the wing, then the top of the hull, and settled cross-legged on the plating, looking at her. 

She gave him a bit of a smile for that, making the jump easily and landing in a graceful hunter's pose before she settled to sit facing him in the same style.

"What's wrong?" she asked pretty bluntly.

"Which order do you want the list in?" Anakin replied, just as blunt. "The Chancellor's dead," he said, flicking up one finger, then went on before she could say anything, "The Chancellor was a Sith and the whole thing on Coruscant was intended to push me over the edge, get rid of Obi-Wan, and set me up to kill Dooku in a rage." That had his entire hand spread, and he went back to a closed fist. "Fox is suicidal, Force only knows if Knight Koon's going to be able to save him, and while the Senate is collectively losing its mind... Padmé's pregnant and getting to the point where even Naboo fashion can't hide it." 

Ahsoka stared at him as he rattled all of that off. The men generally didn't do suicidal outside of combat… and it was hard for her to really contemplate Fox fairly between her ordeal and Rex's terse description of why Fives was not here anymore.

But she was smart enough to understand the Commander of the Home Guard would be just as at risk for manipulating as the Jedi that was the Chancellor's friend. She studied Anakin, letting the Force whisper to her about his state, and it was rife with worry and upset but far less of those darker threads now.

Someone had helped him.

As to the last?

"I know she's too practical to risk that, and I can't see you ignoring that precaution, so… Force Baby?" she teased, going for lightness in order to avoid the black pit that was opening up in her soul.

The entire war was a kriffing game between Sith, maneuvering the Jedi toward their deaths and the loss of all public support the longer the war dragged on.

No, she was not going to become a ball of rage. She'd just seen what rage and pain did to a person, and truly had pitied what Maul presented as, even as she disliked him for the deaths of so many.

"Yeah... pretty much," Anakin agreed, shaking his head. "Like I wasn't enough, the Force had to go and decide to do it again?" 

That? _That_ was what she decided to go with? ...Then again, he'd been able to see her anger and her worry flicker and shift in her eyes and lekku as he spoke, he knew she was being deliberately lighthearted about it so far. 

"Is she going to go on a holiday or are you going to use your place as one of the few Jedi the Republic loves to push the Attachment issue?" Ahsoka asked him. She vaguely remembered picking up on a bias on Naboo against people who had children without partners under their laws and ceremonies.

Anakin sighed, raking his left hand through his hair. "I... don't know, Snips. Master Tiin thinks I should, since there are so many -- way more than I had _any_ idea about -- that have Attachments, or relationships, and... Complications with their Commanders or Captains that something's going to _have_ to give in the Order. 

"And I'm not half as afraid of the Council as I used to be. I just... need to talk to a few of the others, somehow. He said he'd do some... nudging, towards me." 

"Okay. Good. Because it needs to change. If there is ever to be a properly good place for the future Force users to go," she told him. 

She was no closer to wanting to be a part of it, but she did miss the men. She missed friends and chosen family. She just… did not want to face being held accountable by those who threw her away and then tried to sweep it all under the carpet.

Anakin nodded, and pulled his hand down to reach for hers. "So... feel like being an aunt? I won't be able to be there all the time, probably, and Force-sensitive babies can be a problem, I guess?" 

She frowned. "Skyguy, I don't think I can be that tied down either. I feel… unbalanced. I know who I am in some ways, and not others. While I would love to see the baby from time to time, I don't think going on her staff is a good idea for me.

"I'm sorry. I have this pull to, I don't know, change things. I just haven't figured out how to do that when I haven't even made peace with the thing that I see needs the most changing."

Anakin felt himself slump, his hand dropping back, some of the hope that had been keeping him going ripped away by her words... but he could see her hurting, see her confusion and uncertainty, and he just sighed. "Okay, Ahsoka." 

She did move to touch his hand then, a gentle, almost shy quality to it. "You talk to your people. See what direction you and she are going to take. And then… maybe it will help guide me. I don't know. I just don't."

She then looked away, looked out over the men moving steadily, and he saw, for a moment, the child she had been, felt her pain over them, before she locked it down. Then her gaze moved, seeking… someone? When she spotted that person, it made her square her shoulders and then look back at him. 

Anakin had been trying to find something to say, some response that wasn't his desperation not to lose her again, not to smother her in what he wanted... then his head just tilted, waiting for her to say what was on her mind now. 

"Is this about your child, Anakin, or is it about me returning?" she asked him, seriously, and not betraying a thing of her emotions in face, voice, or lekku.

Anakin shrugged his shoulders, palms of both hands turning up, and decided to just be honest. "It's about that I'm scared of being a father, that I think Padmé's going to need help and so am I, and about that I love you and I miss you and I've been scared for you.

"But you've got to do what you feel is right, Snips." 

She considered that, and turned her face upwards, trying to see a break in the clouds that were ash and smoke and destruction that still lingered.

A screeing noise of a convor could be heard over the camp din, and then Ahsoka closed her eyes. She thought about this moment, leaning into the Force. 

"If the Admiral does not object, I will take passage back to Coruscant with you. Mandalore has had enough outside influence. Let Bo put things back to rights with her own people, not me, at her side."

Anakin bit his tongue on 'that'll make Rex happy' and just smiled at her, relief sinking deep into his veins again. "I -- yeah. Good. I'm glad." 

What the _haran_ had changed her mind? Did he care? No. 

"Let me go get my things. Not much, but I should say farewell. I'll be back by liftoff." Ahsoka stood to jump down lithely as a convor circled lazily above them.

+++

Anakin felt his spine relax as the hum of hyperspace enclosed them, and he turned towards Rex and Ahsoka -- the Admiral hadn't had any problem with her returning, even just for a little bit -- with a slow, indrawn breath. "Right. Come on, we need to talk." 

He missed the _Twilight_ , but Artoo had spent a good bit of the trip here making sure his quarters and the ready room were actually free of any kind of listening device, and deploying some fascinating (and probably dubiously legal) countermeasures. 

"Yes, we do," Rex said in a grim voice. "Going to need you to be sitting down, and to listen to me, Sir, for my part of it."

Ahsoka nodded to that, even as she found a piece of the bulkhead to lean on, not wanting to sit yet when she was still keyed up from the feeling everything felt different. Part of it was just being back here, on different footing.

Part of it was the Force moving in vastly changed currents. 

Anakin did sit -- and shot his Commander a look to match him, waiting until Rex did -- before he asked, a little warily given the tone in Rex's voice, "So, who first? Flip for it?" 

"Sir, I have been sitting on a timebomb since just before you and General Kenobi left, and I swore when I saw you again I was going to tell you all of it. Let me?" Rex asked.

"Alright, Rex," Anakin answered, turning towards him a little more, reaching for his hand, fingers resting on armor. Rex sounded, felt, like he hadn't since Umbara, and it had fright skittering up and down his spine, but... Rex needed him. He shoved everything that wasn't that aside, and focused. "I'm here. Tell me. Whatever it is." 

Rex let Anakin have his hand, and looked briefly to Ahsoka, who gave an almost imperceptible nod. He was counting on her to help subdue the man if it came to blows over what he had to say.

He still didn't understand how Anakin hadn't pieced it together faster than he had. Kix had managed and had not even had the full weight of Fives' final words to push his search. At least, Rex was fairly certain Kix had known. Why else had the medic been targeted?

He shifted his head and used his free hand to guide Anakin's eye to a pale line there, the only remnant of his unauthorized modification of Republic property.

"We, all of the Vod'e An, are a trap for you Jedi."

"What?" Anakin asked, as his eyes followed Rex's move, followed the brush of Rex's hand... and he went pale and still, cold sinking into him. Master Tiin had found the encouragements to forget, to not listen, to -- 

"Tup. Fives was -- " 

"Fives found out. And… left enough in his words, there at the end, for me to slowly whittle away the defenses the training placed around it," Rex said, even as he showed visible relief to be believed. It was a relief that melted into confusion, followed by a building wariness, and Anakin could feel Ahsoka tensing, as if to fight him.

"When Rex explained to me, I wondered why you hadn't pieced it together, Skyguy," she said. "And now… you are?"

"It's a good thing the Chancellor's already dead," Anakin replied, feeling that wariness building in two of his best, closest friends and hating the man, all over again for it, "or I'd probably be telling you you couldn't be right, yeah, Rex. Because I _couldn't_ see it."

The wariness melted, and relief, honest relief with savage pleasure at his news sank in on both of them.

"Alright," Rex said, feeling the vestiges of his flash-trained loyalty trying to protest the casual mention of the Supreme Commander's death. He viciously stomped it, and was very thankful Ahsoka had been so ready to fight for him if his General had been compromised so fully.

"Anakin? Were we right in suspecting he was manipulating you?" Ahsoka asked, just to know for certain, and give her former master a chance to open up if he needed to.

"Oooh, yeah," he answered, nodding, their relief and pleasure slipping in along the momentary wounds left by that tension. "A _lot_. Master Tiin and I spent several really nasty hours trying to deal with the snapped Force Bond from when he died and the, you know, half-my-life's worth of assorted compulsions that were... really neatly setting me up to Fall and think it was all my own idea until it was too late. 

"I -- Master Tiin found all of that, but I hadn't... figured out what it had to mean. There's been... a lot. It -- what do you know, Rex?" 

"The chips are in every single man out of Kamino. They reinforce orders we would normally object to, as they are directives that step outside established warfare constraints, and happen with very little in the way of approval from the actual government. That most of them are designed to be enacted, immediately, on the say-so of one man," Rex summarized. "And I am certain the recurrent nightmare of us turning on our Jedi is part of those orders buried in our subconscious."

"All of which, when we looked at it, shifted how we perceived the Chancellor," Ahsoka added. "Making it pretty obvious he was either the Sith, or buried so deep in a Sith's control as to be no difference."

Anakin had to breathe slowly, deeply, as so much of his old trauma reared up in him along with furious nauseated horror for his men -- brave-generous-loyal-passionate, better and more noble than their creation would ever have suggested, with a devotion neither the Republic or the Order had **never** proven to deserve -- ever even possibly being so utterly violated and used. 

"I -- I... yeah. It was him. Okay. What the _kriff_ do we do?" he finally managed to say, once he managed to fight the worst of that down. "I mean, he's dead and so are Dooku and Grievous, but. It's still _there._ " 

"It's still there. And a new Chancellor or the Security Council could still set them off," Rex said. "Personally, I say run units through a med station and yank them, since the Sith is dead and can't be tipped off that we know."

Ahsoka made a noise at that. "Surely we can figure out a way to just short the transceivers rather than put that many men at any given time in a med center, given Seppie liking for blowing those up?"

"Good point, Snips," Anakin agreed, and looked at Rex. "How intensive a surgery was it, Rex? I mean, recovery-time and supplies needed? ...no, it'd be too exhausting on our medics to try to do the surgery for entire units, even once they were clear, wouldn't it?" He muttered a Huttese profanity that came close to expressing how he felt, and shoved his fingers through his hair. 

Rex considered. "Mereel was mostly looking for what it did. And I didn't have much time to get the information beyond that," he admitted. "As I needed to get back to the unit. But Ahsoka is likely right. Use what sets it off to destroy it is a good idea."

"I think we just found a task for me to work on, if you can get me some chips?" Ahsoka suggested. "And a set of armor, in case of redundancy."

Mereel?! No, never mind, what Skirata's boys were doing close enough to help really didn't matter in the long run, did it? All that mattered was that Rex'd been taken care of, that he was safe. Where, exactly, were they supposed to get chips from, Anakin wondered, not exactly pleasantly. 

"Yeah," Anakin agreed, swallowing, smelling blood and thermite and sand, trying not to. "I mean. I want them _out_ eventually, it's -- they might -- even dead they'd still -- " 

Rex squeezed his hand. "Sir -- Anakin? We can handle this. All we need to do is set a surgical droid. I know the precise placement, and we can do a scan. Artoo can verify the droid's safety for us," he reminded. "I don't mind knocking a vod out for this, and Coric nor Vasq would protest if they knew the truth."

"Once we have a medic de-chipped," Ahsoka picked up from there, still leaning on the bulkhead, "it's even safer to get more if we need them. I'd pick Vasq, but I'm biased toward my former company."

Anakin shook himself hard, only his hand in Rex's motionless, and focused. "Sorry, vod. Flashback. I'm alright. Yeah. Okay. They both would, you're right. Your call which medic, Rex." 

"Both, one after the other… but Vasq is less likely to give me grief about a non-medic operating on him."

That made Ahsoka laugh a little. "You are right about that," she said.

Anakin managed to find a laugh somewhere, too. "Yeah, point. Okay. Shall we?"

"Yes. The sooner the better," Rex agreed, letting go of his hand to stand up so they could go begin.

+++

Obi-Wan was gone by the return to Coruscant, sent to reinforce the operations at Cato Neimoidia, but he'd left a note for Anakin to find.

_Off to try and take Gunray, again, before the Separatists can rally behind him. Congratulations on your future investments. Please consider working with the Order for change, but I will understand if your path leads elsewhere. - OWK_

Anakin stared at the note, finding 'investments' an odd choice of words if his Master meant what he thought he did, but... it warmed and soothed him, stroking along everything still (and newly) raw in his psyche. He'd run up, hoping his Master had had enough Council business to keep him there. No such luck. At least it looked like Padmé had already broken the news for them!

He turned back to the lift and got back to where Ahsoka and Rex waited at the top of the stairs of the Temple. They were heading down to the Healing Wing. "No luck," he said, shrugging. "Off to try to catch Gunray again." 

"Luck and Force be with him," Rex growled while Ahsoka scowled. She had never forgiven herself for the mistakes she had made on that mission with Luminara Unduli, in which they had lost custody of the slippery worm of a man.

"Well, we'll have good news for him and Cody when they return by fixing the chip before they even know about it," she said, decisively.

"Yes," Anakin agreed, "we will. Let's go see who's senior and ruin _their_ day." 

Ahsoka snorted, even as Rex shook his head, smiling with no joy. 

They got down there and it was Rig Nema on duty as senior Master. Ahsoka kept her own opinions to herself, even as she knew Anakin had had a run in with her to help Yoda escape from dangerous procedures.

She would have much preferred to find Krieth Nimpur, one of her mentors, or even Vokara Che herself.

"Doctor Nema," Anakin said, as reasonably as he could manage. "Good afternoon. We have an important medical problem in the _vod'e_ to discuss, privately." 

Rig nodded to him and moved from the intake desk to guide them to a more private bay. There, Rex removed his helmet, and Ahsoka took up a place beside the door, half-listening to be certain they remained undisturbed.

"What is the issue, Captain? Skywalker?" she asked professionally.

Anakin glanced at Rex, got a very firm look of 'you take it, sir' and half-rolled his eyes before he turned back to her. "Due to a couple of incidents, we've discovered that the men were all implanted with an electronic device in their youth, within their minds. It could, if activated, override their will with flash-trained directives. One of which... would lead to the elimination of the Jedi Order at the unwilling hands of our most loyal friends." 

The healer's skin flushed darker, not paling like many species did when shocked, but… it was comforting to Rex and Ahsoka like to see evidence of that shock.

"Inside their heads, within the brains? We must indeed do something about that, but where to begin -- "

Her words cut off as Rex pulled out a small container and flipped it open to show four chips. "My medical staff is investigating it. We want someone else also working on it, to speed discovery of a method to short out and permanently disable them. 

"As there is a war on, and we cannot afford mass surgery in the ranks."

"I've got a couple of technological ideas," Anakin said, surprisingly gratified by her instant shocked horror and complete willingness to help, "but I don't know neurology at all. It's one of your specialties, though, so..."

"We shall have to do something that is minimally disruptive, if at all possible," Rig agreed. "Let me see all your data so that we can begin, and protect the men swiftly."

Ahsoka pulled a data pad out of the pouch she was carrying, and laid it on the desk before stepping back to guard. "Everything we have found, including the technical specifications of the repeaters I found buried in Phase II and Phase III armor," she stated.

Anakin nodded, then had a thought. "If Knight Koon agrees, Commander Fox would probably be more than willing to be a test subject for you, Doctor. It might help him, actually, to be able to do something for his brothers." 

"Oh." Rig, like all of the healers, knew of that situation. She was actually on duty more now because Vokara had many of the healers actively working with the Guard and hard-hit sectors of Coruscant. "I will certainly reach out."

"Good," Anakin said, nodding. The look on her face said she already knew about Fox, so... that helped, as much as anything did, at least. "We'll wait while you look through that, so we can answer questions you might come up with." 

She started studying it, and as she did, she did have a few questions. Anakin fielded most of those, but Rex contributed a few times. Ahsoka mostly listened, but Anakin could tell she was half-distracted about ten minutes into the briefing.

Finally, Rig looked at them all. "I believe I understand enough to go talk to Knight Koon and Commander Fox." She stood to go do that, and Rex was gratified by the quick response.

"Thank you, Doctor," Anakin replied, and left her office with Rex and Ahsoka. In one of the open waiting areas of the Healing Wing, he turned towards her. "What's up, Snips?" 

She frowned. "Maybe nothing, Skyguy." Even as she said it, she turned toward the central spire of the Temple, and seemed to be listening very intently.

"Or maybe something? Trust me, after the last week, if the Force is talking to you, let's pay attention, huh?" 

She grimaced, not wanting to think on how loud the Force could be at times ever since she left the Order. She ached to be learning, to be honing the skills she knew she needed, but her distrust of the Council was still in her way.

"Ahsoka," Rex said quietly. "We will listen, no matter what. You know that."

"I feel something dark and ominous and looming, pulsing just under the thrum that the Jedi are," she said.

"Then we need to go investigate... if you're okay with that? I mean. Force only knows what the Ch -- what Sidious -- might have left behind in all these years," Anakin said, trying to stand close enough to her to support her, but not to hover.

She gave him a look, then set herself on forcefully impertinent. "Sure. Let's go see if anyone wants to arrest me for digging into the bowels -- oh **kriff**!"

Memory of exploring too low and finding a monster in the dark, or rather, many of them, came back to her. "Master, you are going to need to get permission, and we're going to need men with flame units."

"What?" Rex asked.

Anakin swayed a little with the power of her sudden memory of eyes in the dark, hunting -- and he swallowed, nodding a little. "I... caught a bit of that. All right. Let me find out who's here, and I'll get things started." 

"Sirs?" Rex said, an edge in his voice now.

"There's something below the Temple, something that is dark and corrupted the creatures that live in sub-levels," Ahsoka said. "Now that the cloud on the Force is gone, I can hear it, and it made me remember finding those creatures when I was still in the creche, exploring."

"You were -- _Ahsoka!_ " Anakin exclaimed, shaking his head at his ridiculous -- not padawan anymore -- little sister, before tapping his comm for the Temple switchboard and whichever Masters of the Council were on Coruscant still. 

"Skywalker?" came Shaak Ti's voice. "Master Fisto and Master Kolar are here with me currently. We are in the planning room, if you wish to join us," she said.

Rex would have sworn that Ahsoka's montrals, which were rigid at the core, tried to lay back, but then she gathered her shielding close and let herself appear calm.

Anakin looked at her, raising a brow, but she was presenting so blankly calm it made him want to shake her. No help there. "All right, Master. There's apparently a situation below the Temple that we're going to want brothers for; I'll put my Commander on sorting out a team. We'll be there shortly."

"Thank you," Shaak Ti said, with an intrigued tone.

"Halls down there about normal Temple width?" Rex asked Ahsoka, who thought about it. 

"No, slightly more narrow. I wouldn't bring more than two squads, or we'll have accidents with the flamers and incendiary devices," she reasoned, after translating Tiny!Ahsoka sizes to current ones.

"Let's avoid that," Anakin agreed, nodding at Rex -- that sounded about right to him, for close-quarters work. "...I'd go deal with them for you, Snips, and just let you meet us with Rex, but you're the one with the details." 

"Anakin, I'll be fine." She gave him a faint smile. "I'm adept at working with people that have made life hard."

Rex snorted, then went to an out of the way place to start getting two squads with needed equipment on their way to them.

+++

Somehow, after the assault on the Sith artifact hiding in the deepest levels beneath the Temple, Anakin and Ahsoka wound up at Padmé's apartment to sleep it off. Rex had begged off, going to the garrison with the men, and Ahsoka had hoped to do that too, but Anakin wanted her to see Padmé. They had even discussed the idea that maybe the Council hadn't been wholly free of Dark Influences, given the Sith artifact. It had Ahsoka open to the idea of returning to the Order.

Despite Anakin's wishes, Padmé wasn't in, as there was a late planning session in Mon Mothma's quarters she had been unable to avoid going to. And then Ahsoka had more or less passed out on the couch, even sleeping through Padmé getting back.

Anakin wasn't much better. They had both used far more Force ability in facing that thing than he would have thought possible, and he was beginning to glimpse that she, like himself, was not quite _normal_ in how the Force touched her.

He moved for Padmé to join him, curled around her, and was back asleep moments after his wife was settled in his arms. It was a deep, dreamless sleep, one shared by his former padawan as they both let exhaustion and fear bleed away into the night.

He stirred awake again, early in the morning, and gently encouraged his wife to stay asleep while he worked his way out of the bed. He went to the 'fresher, then through the living room, checking on Ahsoka. 

She twitched at him being in the room, then cracked an eye open and saw it was him. She sat up slowly, yawning, nowhere near being the vibrant, suddenly fully awake girl he remembered, but one that had needed sleep in a fully safe place where no one could see her resting.

"Morning."

"Morning," he answered her, as soft as her own voice had been, and moved to lean against the couch. "Feeling better?" 

"A little." She rubbed at her montrals to get the buzzy sound out of them, then rolled her head to loosen her neck muscles. "I think I was trying to make up for three months of lost sleep."

"Sorry I woke you, then," Anakin replied, his eyes running worriedly over her again. "Come on, let's raid the kitchen, see what Padmé has on hand." 

She stood, stretching, feeling every part of her protesting the long sleep. Or maybe it was just growing up. Her body ached, and she felt only slightly more clear-headed. She did follow him into the kitchen and then had to look down with embarrassment when her stomach made an actual noise on realization that food was at hand.

"I think we forgot to eat yesterday once things got moving?"

Anakin thought back... and nodded reluctantly. "You're right, Snips, we did. And Master Obi-Wan wasn't even _here_ to be a bad example." 

That made her laugh, just a little, before she started looking in the cold storage for anything remotely meat-based to satisfy her stomach.

"I hope Rex did before he passed out."

"Jesse'll have made him," Anakin answered. Jesse had taken over watching out for Torrent, mostly with a tight set to his jaw that no-one wanted to argue with. 

Ahsoka's eyes closed, and the grief she had not had time for threatened to choke her as she swallowed against it. The number of her friends, the men she had proudly served with, that Rex had had to tell her were gone now was -- 

\-- No. She wasn't ready to face it yet. She couldn't. Knowing the Chancellor had engineered **everything** was threatening to drag her into a Darkness to rival Ventress's.

"Good."

Anakin moved to wrap his arm low around her waist, avoiding her rear lek, abandoning his own raiding of the cabinets for as long as she'd let him. "Yeah," he agreed quietly. 

She made herself find the relief that the trap had been avoided. She forced herself to see the good of knowing they could, feasibly, bring the war to an end.

"Food, Skyguy… we both need it." She pulled a steak out from the back of the unit and moved to use the heater for it.

"You're right," Anakin agreed, and unwillingly let her go to get back to finding food he wanted, along with hers. 

She had gotten the steak warmed to where she could tolerate the temperature and taken it to the table with a glass of water, and he had finally opted for one of the cereals Padmé kept for easy food, when Padmé came out in a robe that did not disguise the advanced pregnancy.

"Good morning, Ahsoka. Ani," she said, not letting the girl's -- no, that was a young woman now -- presence throw her off. Anakin had brought her here; that meant it was already revealed to her.

"Good morning, Senator," Ahsoka said, taking the time to cut small bites rather than eat too quickly.

"Morning, Angel," Anakin said, moving to her and dipping his head to kiss her gently. He was just... completely and utterly through hiding from Ahsoka, from Rex, from his Master. The rest of the Order, he'd be more cautious with, but his people? No. He was done with that. 

Ahsoka actually smiled to see that, especially when Padmé returned the kiss and chased after his lips for another one. She kept working the steak to civilized bites as they did the whole kissing and family thing.

"So… Skycrawlers, huh?" she asked when the woman moved to get her own food. She didn't think Anakin had said more than one, and she didn't know how a tiny woman could be growing two, but her montrals were being thumped with two fast heartbeats under the steadier, slow one of their mother.

"What?" Anakin asked, turning towards her, surprised, as Padmé matched his bewildered tone and shift towards Snips. 

"What do you mean, 'what'?" Ahsoka asked with a frown. "Padmé, haven't you had a med check up?" She might have grown up as a Jedi, but she knew people who carried babies were supposed to see medics.

Padmé flushed. "I haven't wanted to call attention down since the first discreet confirmation of pregnancy. Which didn't happen until we noticed my clothes had to be adjusted. And I would not let the droid scan for more than a pregnancy because it had to be wiped after."

"That's ridiculous and risky," Ahsoka said firmly, no matter that she was still a few weeks shy of her eighteenth Name Day, and the Senator was at least a decade or so older. "If you two aren't going to go public, you need to go somewhere private and get checked out. I mean Ki -- Coric or one of our medics could learn and help at the very least!"

Anakin stared at his wife, then his padawan, swallowing. She... she hadn't been to a doctor, or even a med-droid? Yes, those had been impossibilities for his mother, for the women he'd known in Mos Espa, but... Padmé was a Senator, a beloved former queen of her people. She should have had better care than that, and -- and Ahsoka was right. "Coric would," he agreed, "but we might not be here. There are still Separatist attacks going on. Ahsoka's right, angel, you need to see someone. Ahsoka, why'd you say 'Skycrawler _s_? Also that's a terrible joke." 

"And I'm telling it to every vod so it sticks," Ahsoka promised him, before shrugging. "Still getting used to how much I notice in quiet spaces, but hearts make vibrations against my montrals. There's two fast sets under the normal one," she added.

"Twins. Ani, we're having twins!" Padmé said, overjoyed at the idea.

Anakin had to put his hand down on the nearest counter to brace himself, sinking into the sense of his wife's joy rather than pay attention to his own, more panicky reaction. Kriff, he had no idea how to be a parent, no idea what to do with one helpless infant, let alone two... but this baby, these babies, they were a blessing. "I -- wow. That... I don't... wow. Yeah, I guess we are."

Ahsoka could feel his conflict, and decided, no matter how things went when she spoke to the Council, at their earliest convenience, she would stay near for Anakin's sake at least. 

That it would let her be close to the men was a bonus for her, even as she knew she needed to be more careful than ever with them, as they adapted to the truth of what this war had been.

+++

Anakin took a deep breath as he walked back onto the _Resolute_ , his Cap -- Commander at his side. One of the Separatist powers had gone on a new offensive, despite all the evidence they'd been manipulated, and things were hot on a Republic planet badly in need of help. Ahsoka was not with them, at least not this mission, as she was on a tour of various Masters and Knights to learn skills Anakin had never honed. She had accepted a place within the Order, and would eventually return to the 501st after these training trips. They had been arranged in recognition of her very unusual standing in a place that was between padawan and Knight.

She had not spoken much about the half a day she had spent with the full Council the very morning Padmé had announced she was taking a leave of absence while the former Chancellor was investigated for his Sith ties and manipulations. As the Senator from his home sector, planet even, she had recused herself from the investigations, and provided a complete set of recordings from her dealings with him over the course of her years as Senator.

Bail Organa, Mon Mothma, and Riyo Chuchi all were in on the fact that she was pregnant, and heartily approved of her going home to have the children privately.

Anakin wanted to be with his wife, but after some serious heart to heart talks with his own master and Bail Organa, they had decided that it was best to let the Republic recover from the disaster of a Sith Chancellor before rocking that boat. Padmé's people were going to quietly circulate the marriage and announcements on Naboo itself where it mattered, but few people paid attention to that sector.

In short, life was beginning to pick up, with the heavy focus for all Jedi being the protection of Republic systems while working with the men on the betrayal they all felt about the war.

Somehow, Anakin thought that mission -- of helping the Vod'e An -- might well be a lifetime in the making, and would lead the Order on a path better for them all.


End file.
